Explosion
by Phoenix Jasmine Lee
Summary: Emotions are a volatile, explosive game. They're fickle. When Bella and Jazz are left all alone because of their loves's fickle emotions, Bella becomes a prisoner to her own feelings. Only Jazz can help her through this pain- this explosion of emotions.
1. Chapter 1

"'Bye, Dad," I shout to Charlie. "I'll be home Monday, after school!"

"'Bye, Bells," he says gruffly from the living room, not even looking up from whatever sport he is watching.

I grab my bag, wondering why I even bother. I have more clothes and possessions at the Cullen Mansion than I do in my own home. Nevertheless, I continue to persist in bringing my little bag with me.

I walk to my truck, and miraculously, I don't fall, slip, or trip.

I push the old Chevy's speed limit, for once eager to go fast. I miss my Edward, and I miss my family.

I reach the Cullen's impossibly long driveway, and eventually reach the house.

It's very quiet. They went out hunting today, and perhaps they're still gone. Oh, well. I have a key, so I'll just wait for them inside.

I unlock the door. My ears are assaulted by loud thumping and blaring music. I shudder. I guess some people got home a bit early. I have no desire to discover who; the time I'd _interrupted_ Emmett and Rosalie is still fresh in my mind. Or how about the time I'd almost walked in on Esme and Carlisle? Emmett and Rosalie, my brother and sister, is one thing, but seeing Esme and Carlisle, Mom and Dad, like that would've scarred me for life.

Hm… Maybe today will be the day I finally figure out how to use this massive, intimidating TV that Emmett loves so much.

I pick up the remote and stare at the buttons. This is not fair. How is it _possible_ to have this many buttons for only one TV?

I shake my head and put the remote down. I'll just wait in Edward's room; maybe I'll actually manage to surprise him when he gets home. Plus, I'd left my book in there last time I was here.

I walk up the stairs, taking time not to fall, as there was no one here who would catch me.

Finally, I reach the top landing, only to notice that Edward's door is closed, and the sound is coming _from his room_.

I sigh. Whoever is in there probably thinks that they're being hilarious- but I have to sleep in that bed later!

I'll just open the door and kick them out. It's almost my room too, right? The glittering ring on my left hand tells me that I'm right about that.

I walk towards the door and hear a moan. "_Ooooh._" Alice- I know that voice. I'm going to kill her and her husband.

Plucking up my courage, I push open the door.

To find that it's not Alice and her husband, like I'd just thought. No, Jasper is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, it's Alice and _Edward_. My Edward.

They don't look over towards the door. They don't pay any attention as I quietly shut it and head back downstairs. They don't hear it when I trip and fall- twice. They don't hear my tears, nor do they hear my sobs.

I reach the bottom floor and pull out the cell phone that had been a gift from the Cullens. They had pre-programmed it with all of their numbers.

I push the button for the number I didn't think I'd ever call.

A gentle voice, soft and flowing, like honey, answers. "Hello?"

I choose that moment to sob particularly loudly.

"Hello?" he says again.

"J-jasper," I force out.

"Bella?" he asks. I can hear his disbelief. "What's wrong?"

"Come home," I say, "Come back quickly."

Before he can ask any questions, I end the call and break down on the couch.

Jasper opens the door and dashes through, running to me. He stops a good two yards away, as if he's afraid of me. Or perhaps he thinks I'm afraid of him.

"What's wrong?" he says.

"Shush," I say, "Listen."

He does. He hears it all, being a vampire. Every word, every whisper, every touch…

His face contorts into a look of fury before he sprints up the stairs. I follow him, slowly.

He swings open the door as soon as I'm standing beside him. It slams into the wall, the crash resonating through the house.

The two of them break apart, looking up to see who has possibly caught them.

Jasper's fury doubles, and some of it rolls over to me. I feel myself get riled up, ready to find a baseball bat and take a swing at the two of them. Not that it would do much.

Jasper says nothing. He just pulls the silver band off of his left hand, the one he only wears when no outsiders are around, and drops it on the floor. Following his lead, I drop my ring next to his. He crushes them into fine powder under his foot.

Then he turns away, and I, too numb to do anything else, follow him.

We're sitting downstairs, on the couch, completely numb, when everyone else comes home.

"What's the matter?" Carlisle asks us. I say nothing, but Jasper jerks a finger upwards.

Everyone listens, hearing Alice and Edward as they begin to go at it again.

Rosalie's face is the picture of rage. She comes over and sits beside us, Esme right in her heels.

Emmett looks furious.

Carlisle marches upstairs.

I don't hear what he says, but, a minute later, he comes back, and the noises upstairs cease.

We sit in silence for a moment longer.

Suddenly, Edward and Alice stand before me and Jasper. Emmett hisses with rage, but Carlisle stops him from attacking his brother.

"We'd like to talk to you," they say in unison.

To numb to think of why this is a dumb idea, we nod and follow them upstairs.

Alice pulls Jasper to their room, and Edward leads me to his.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, the way he does when he's upset.

"Bella," he sighs.

Some of the anger Jasper sent me earlier comes back of its own accord.

"Don't you 'Bella' me, you scum!" I hiss furiously.

"I'm sorry you saw that," he says.

His words strike me as odd. "You're sorry I saw that. Are you sorry at all that you did it?"

"No," he says. He doesn't even sound apologetic. "I love Ali."

"You said you loved me," I remind him, pain creeping into my voice.

"I was lying," he says brutally.

I begin to cry again. No, not cry. Sob.

Normally, this is when Edward would hug me, comfort me, whisper consoling words in my ear.

"Oh, _shut up_," he says disdainfully. "All the crying is getting obnoxious."

That only makes me cry harder. Edward, Edward, what changed?

He slaps me.

Holy shit. A _vampire_ just slapped me.

I can feel my jaw bone crack, and I sag backwards.

Before I hit the floor, I feel cold arms slip around me, pulling me back upright.

"Leave before I kill you," Jasper hisses.

Then I black out.


	2. Chapter 2

I open my eyes and take a look around, feeling dizzy.

I'm in a bed, one that I don't recognize. I have a feeling I'm in the Cullen house.

What had happened?

Then it all comes back. Edward Alice. The talk. Edward hitting me.

Jasper catching me.

Sitting at the foot of the bed is Jasper. All my emotions, all my pain, sorrow, suffering, and grief, must be hurting him. I try to stop them, but they only get stronger.

He realizes that I'm awake.

"Hello," he says, in that honey-smooth voice.

I try to speak, but it hurts.

"Shush," he says, "Don't talk. You broke your jaw."

It frustrates me to be crippled in this way. He must feel my irritation, for he quickly passes me a pad of paper and a pen.

_How long have I been out?_

He reads it at vampire speed, answering before I can even pass him the notebook. "Two days. Ed- _he-_ hit you pretty hard."

_What happened?_

He looks at me incredulously. "You don't remember?"

_I meant _after_ I passed out._

"Oh," he says, brow furrowing. "Well, _they_ left. Emmett and Rose threatened to kill them both, especially _him,_ after he hit you. And Carlisle kicked them out. He won't tolerate violence. Not like that."

_How_, I scribble onto the page, but then stopped. How, what?

_How are you?_ I finish.

"Been better," he mutters, "Been worse. But that's not important; I _will_ be fine. How are _you?_" he asks.

_My jaw hurts,_ I scrawl, _And so does my head._

"I meant; how do you feel?" he modifies.

_Why are you asking? You know just as well as I do._

He shakes his head. "No, I don't, Bella. I know you're emotions; anger, frustration, overwhelming sadness, you're feeling abandoned and frightened, and a tiny bit accepting. I just don't know _why._"

_I'm angry because my fiancé and your wife were sleeping together on the bed that was technically _mine_. I'm frustrated because I have to write notes to talk. I'm sad because I lost the love of my life, again. I'm worried about abandonment because last time he left, so did all of you. I'm accepting because I always knew this would happen. I was never good enough for him, and I know it._

He sighs. "Bella, Bella, what am I going to do with you? We're not leaving you, I promise. We would never do that to you. Last time we left, it almost killed all of us. You're our sister, you're Carlisle and Esme's daughter; we don't like leaving family behind."

Doubtfully, my unrest eases a bit. I trust him, and I trust his word that they'll stay.

"And as to you not being good enough for that bustard, what _are_ you talking about?" he says gently. "You're _too_ good for him. He's not worth half of what you are. And _stop doubting yourself!_" he says, feeling my emotions. "Stop it, or I'll send you back to sleep!" he threatens.

I gasp, which hurts my jaw.

You_'re the reason I was unconscious for two whole days?_ I shoot daggers at him with my eyes.

He looks guilty and slightly embarrassed. "You were hurting," he says. "Moaning and groaning and crying every time you came close to waking up. I just helped you stay under a bit longer."

_He must've hit me really hard to put me in that much pain_.

He's quiet for a second. I think he's wondering about how not to upset me.

"I don't think it was the pain from the hit, Bella," he says.

_Oh._

"You were talking," he says.

_What did I say?_

"You told him not to leave you again," he whispers.

I can't write a response. I just stare at my hands.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks.

_No._


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, Everyone-

First off, thanks so much for the fabulous reviews. I'm glad you guys are enjoying it.

Next, I love the fast-post things; and, by the sound of it, so do you all. I wish I could keep this up. Unfortunately, I'm not sure for how long I'll be able to keep it up. Life just keeps getting in the way of my writing. I can, however, virtually guarantee that I will never go longer than a week without posting.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for reviewing!

The door opens, revealing the last thing I ever expected to see. A blonde head pokes through. It's Jasper's "twin," Rosalie. What's _she_ doing up here? She never liked me. Has she come to gloat?

Jasper must feel my confusion rising, but he gives me no answers. He's looking at Rosalie the same way I am- with confusion and a bit of shock.

"May I come in?" she asks softly.

Jasper looks sidelong at me, asking my permission to let her in. I shrug. Why not? What worse could happen to me?

He nods, giving her the go-ahead. She smiles at me and walks over. On her way past him, she pats Jasper on the shoulder, and says something too quietly for me to hear.

He says something back, and then stands up. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Bella," he says, "But I need to hunt. Rosalie will sit with you for a little while."

I pull my pad of paper onto my lap and scribble _I don't need a babysitter, you know._

Jasper reads it and nods. "I know. But you might want company. Things don't hurt as much when someone else is around." And he leaves.

It doesn't hurt, I want to tell him. There's no pain, I want to say. I'm over it.

Rosalie sits there uncomfortably for a few minutes. She's kind of staring off into space, looking at a corner of the room as if it's the most fascinating thing in the world.

_You don't have to stay here if you don't want to_, I write.

She shrugs. "Do you want me to leave?"

I shrug right back at her.

"Then I'm staying," she says.

And then we sit in silence for a while longer.

"Oh, screw it," she says abruptly.

I look up at her.

_What?_

"Bella, I'm sorry," she says sincerely.

_Uhm… it's okay?_

She smiles a true, genuine smile- to me. "No, it's not. I'm sorry he did all this to you. Believe me, I know what it's like to have your wedding called off just weeks before by a jerk," she laughs darkly. I remember her past, remembering Royce and how he killed her, just weeks before their wedding.

_I'm fine, Rosalie_, I write.

She smiles and says, "Bella, you're my sister- you can call me Rose."

_Thanks, Rose._

There's a knock on the door. Rose looks over to me, asking for my permission to let whoever it is in. I nod.

"Come in," she says softly.

The parade marches in, with Esme in the lead, followed by Carlisle and Emmett.

"Bella, honey," Esme says while bending over to hug me in the way only a mom can.

"How are you?" Carlisle asks after coming over for his own hug.

_Fine,_ I scribble, _My face hurts, though._

Emmett reads it over Carlisle's shoulder and snickers. "Yeah, I know, Bella. It's killing me, too."

I throw the pad of paper at him. He laughs because, naturally, with him being a vampire and all, it just deflects and bounces off.

"Allow me," Rose suggests. She gets up and proceeds to pound the crap out of her husband.

We all watch for a minute, and then Carlisle turns back to me, passing ye the paper back. "I'll get you some more pain medication. I'll have Jasper pick up some on his way home from hunting."

_Thank you._

Esme's eyes widen and she says, "Anything, Bella, Anytime. You're like our daughter. We love you."

_I love you all too._ Speaking of daughter… _How much does Charlie know?_

Carlisle reads my question. "Well, he knows you… er… hurt your face. We told him you weren't paying attention and walked into the path of Emmett and Jasper playing football."

_Yup. He'll believe that. What am I going to tell people about… them?_

"Well," Carlisle says, "We can't say they ran off together. We told the school that Alice's aunt came and found her, and Edward got accepted at an English boarding school. We'll stick to that story."

_Okay_.

Esme comes over and sits beside me, putting her arm around me in the comforting way mothers do. Carlisle sits on the edge of my bed, looking at me with worry they way a father might. I can hear Rose beating up her husband in the next room.

"How are you, sweetie?" Esme asks me, concerned.

_I'm fine,_ I lie.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey-

First off, Thank you all for liking my story. Hell, thanks for even reading it. If I said I loved you guys, would it sound creepy?

Second, I just HAD to insert the Rosalie beating the shit out of Emmett thing in the last chapter. I just think that's a total Rosalie thing, and it sounds a bit like me (except I'm not a vampire, amazingly beautiful, or even blonde, and I'm not married to the freaking Hulk in vampire form, nor do I have an amazingly HOT "twin brother" who makes girls swoon.) But, anyways, it was fun to write.

Oh, and I wanted to explain to anyone who actually cares about the whole Bella bottling up her emotions thing. The first time Edward left her, she became depressed, totally and completely. But she came out of her depression enough to try to hide it, for Charlie's sake, and therefore became a "zombie." Her hiding her emotions and therefore bottling them up went on until she met her "personal sun," Jacob. Since, at this point, Jacob is running around as a giant wolf somewhere in the middle of Canada, he's not exactly available as a shoulder to cry on. So, the way I see it, she'll keep up this shit about her being fine until she finds a new personal sun. I think we all know who it'll be, right?

JASPER'S POV (**I think I owe it to you all to let the hotness himself talk for a while.)**

Deer. They must be the worst tasting animals, next to rabbits and squirrels, in the entire freaking world. If I have one complaint about a vegetarian diet, besides the fact that it's not completely satisfying, is just how bad the "meals" taste.

Of course, I could run to Canada or something, find a grizzly or mountain lion or something else that tastes just a bit better, but I don't want to. I'm trying to hunt close to home, so all the sooner I can be back.

I need to be back sooner. Bella needs me to be back sooner.

She might be spouting some shit about not wanting to talk about it and being fine, but, sooner or later, she's going to stop denying it and admit she's hurting. And I want to be there to help her when she does.

After all, who better to help an emotionally distraught girl than an empath?

As for myself, well, I'm doing a little better than Bella emotionally. Like I said, I _am_ an empath. I _do_ feel emotions. I could feel that Alice didn't really love me anymore. But I'd just assumed it was some sort of romantic falling-out. Couples have those all the time. We'd been married fifty some odd years, and this would've been our first. I kind of felt like we'd work through it- we were long overdue for something like this.

Ah, denial. What a hideous emotion.

It's an awful shame. I can read and manipulate the emotions of others, but, half the time, I don't even understand my own. I should've recognized the denial, should've recognized what was going on, should've confronted the cheaters, and should've stopped Bella from ever having to see that. But I didn't. I couldn't. All I could do was subconsciously prepare for the disaster to come. All I _can _do now is try to help poor Bella.

But what can I do for her? She's a girl denying her emotions to an empath. I _know_ she's in pain. I _know_ she's hurting. I know it hurts her so much she feels like she's going to burn up and die. I also know that she knows that I know. Why does she persist in denying it?

I sigh, and head back in the direction of my car, running as fast as I can possibly go, which is almost as fast as Edward. Then my cell phone beeps and I pull it out, to see a text from Carlisle. It's kind of funny, if you think about it, to see Carlisle, hell, even me, texting. Carlisle is, what, like 350 years old? I'm about 160 years old. We're just old geezers trying to be hip with the times.

Anyways, he asked me to pick up more pain meds for Bella- apparently her jaw is hurting her.

Perfect. Even longer until I can get home.

I walk into the bedroom upstairs that was once mine and Alice's to find the whole gang.

I hold up the bag in my hand. "Pain meds," I announce. Carlisle shoots me a grateful smile and Bella takes four of the pills with the water Esme runs to get her.

"You need to eat, Bella," I say.

Carlisle smacks his forehead. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I completely forgot."

_It's fine,_ she scribbles in her chicken-scratch handwriting,_ How am I supposed to eat? I can't chew._

"Uhm… well, we put it all in a blender and you, uh, drink it," I tell her.

_Nasty._

"What do you want to eat?" I ask her.

_Can any of you actually cook?_ She asks.

We nervously chuckle. Now that we actually stop to think about it, no. Edward was the one who could cook.

"I can!" Emmett proclaims.

Rose snorts.

"Not in my house, Emmett," Esme threatens.

_I'm missing something, here,_ Bella writes.

I fill her in. "He once tried to make toast for no known reason and he burnt down the kitchen."

She rolls her eyes. _Useless vampires, _she writes, her eyes teasing. She gets out of bed and tucks the note paper under her arm, and begins to walk downstairs, towards the kitchen that no one but she ever uses.

I follow her; sure I look like a lost puppy, but not caring in the least. She rummages through cabinets and pulls out a blender, then she gets some fruit and puts it all in and turns it to mush. It smells disgusting.

"What _is_ that?" I ask her.

_A fruit smoothie_, she writes.

"Disgusting," I comment.

_Because I'm sure bear blood or whatever is so good, _she writes.

"Actually, it's not," I inform her. "But it _is_ the best alternative to the good stuff."

She shudders. I've frightened her. Oops.

Hanging around the human is going to take some getting used to.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey-

Someone asked me if the cheaters will ever return. Well, I didn't have an answer. Now I do.

And someone also asked who Rosalie is to Bella now. She's Bella's best friend, because every girl needs a best friend. Bella had two before. One slept with her fiancée and the other is having a wolfie breakdown of teenage angst. So, Rose stepped up to take their place. She's still a bitch, but now she's Bella's bitch of a best friend.

Jazz's POV (**It's been requested that I let him talk more)**

Bella slurps down the disgusting smelling concoction, ignoring my words that frightened her. She's trying to act nonchalant, like she doesn't actually care.

She cares.

"Sorry I frightened you," I apologize. "It was an accident."

She shrugs her shoulders. _I'm fine,_ she writes.

"Liar," I accuse. "I scared you."

_I'm fine!_ She writes, her writing wobbly from a bit of anger at me.

"And another thing," I say, "You're _not_ fine. You're in pain. You're miserable and upset. You're angry and broken."

_JASPER, I'M __FINE!!!_She writes, her hand absolutely shaking with anger. _Just leave me alone, alright? I'm _trying_ to deal with this._

No, she's not trying. But what am I supposed to do?

Emmett bounds into the room. "Bells! _America's Next Top Model_ is on and I wanna watch! Let's _go!_"

I roll my eyes. Emmett is such a pervert.

Wait. Emmett doesn't watch _America's Next Top Model_. He watches Rose.

This is a set-up.

Sure enough, as soon, as he forcibly drags poor Bella away, the rest of my family sweeps in silently.

I raise an eyebrow. "Why does Emmett get stuck distracting the human?" I ask too low and too quietly for Bella to hear me.

Rose shrugs. "He's the most useless one of all of us. But a good source of entertainment for Bella."

Emmett growls. "I heard that, Rosie!" he hisses. His wife just laughs.

"So… what's going on?" I ask.

Carlisle looks across the room to me. "Aro Voltori just called."

I snort. "He's a thousand years old. He uses the phone?"

"Apparently so," Carlisle says. "He says he has two new members of his guard. He wants to thank me for letting them go."

"Edward and Alice," I say, horrified.

"With red eyes," Carlisle says. "They've switched their diet."

"F-udge," I say, very close to forgetting Esme's rule about dropping the f-bomb in her presence.

Rose hisses. "A little pixie slut and a bronze-haired man whore have been telling stories about our favorite human."

This time, I completely forget Esme's rule. It seems that she herself has forgotten it, for she scolds neither me nor Rosalie for her usage of "slut" and "Man whore."

"Aro wants to know why it's been six months and Bella is still human."

I run my hand tiredly through my hair. I don't want to deal with Aro's bullshit today. My wife left me, and I'm trying to help an emotionally deranged girl without killing her. Isn't that enough?

Apparently not.

"What's he going to do?" I ask.

"Sick half the guard on us," Rose says.

I drop the f-bomb once more. Five, six- we could handle that. Not half the guard.

"What do _we_ do?" I ask Carlisle. Carlisle, wise, old Carlisle, who always has an answer. Let him have one now.

He shrugs. "We try to cut a deal."

I sigh.

The Volturi may be merciless rule-followers, but we are now dealing with something much worse; two tattle-tales.

"Bella," I sight quietly to myself. What the hell had she done, getting herself involved with vampires?

What the hell had _we_ done, letting her?

The Volturi is no joke. Next to Carlisle, I know them better than anyone in the family. They were present during the Southern Vampire wars, trying to create order out of the chaos, and chaos out of the order. They killed entire armies, with no mercy.

What's one human girl to them? Just a tasty snack.

Bella is still in the living room with Emmett, bored out of her skull with what Emmett solemnly proclaims "quality television."

Rosalie flits to my side. "Bella, what?"

"Bella… just Bella," I say, smiling to the girl who truly is my sister, even if not in the literal sense of the word.

"Bella," she says in a light, airy voice, wearing a pathetic smile and dramatically raising her arm to her forehead.

I give her a very confused look.

"That was you, you dork," she says.

"That was NOT me!" I shout. "I am way more manly!"

She snorts. "When are you going to admit you're helplessly in love with her?"

Am I?

"Am I?" I ask her, quirking an eyebrow.

She scoffs. "You're wife fricking _cheated_ on you, Jasper. With your brother, no less. Have you spent more than five minutes being upset?"

"Yes," I say, "it took you all ten minutes to get home after I found out."

She rolls her eyes. "It's been Bella this and Bella that since the man-whore hit her in the face."

"You really love calling him a man-whore, huh?"

She smiles for a second. "Yes. I do. But that's not the point. You grieved for _ten_ freaking minutes and then, all of a sudden, you have a girl who takes away all your grief. You won't leave her side. If you do, you won't go far. You're like a dog on a very, very short leash, Jasper. She has you wrapped around her little finger."

"She's hurt, but she won't admit it," I tell her, "I'm an empath. This is what I do. I try to help them."

"You avoid emotional turmoil," she accuses. "You don't like it. It _hurts_ you."

"Bella's different," I protest, "She's our little sister."

Rosalie recoils and makes a face. "Ew. I really hope you don't truly believe that, Jasper. Not the way you stare at her lips, dreaming of kissing her."

Sisters are overrated.

"Anyways," she says, "Carlisle says come upstairs now. He's calling Aro."


	6. Chapter 6

Jasper's POV

Remember how surprised I was when I discovered that Aro knows how to work a phone?

Take it away from him. My ears are bleeding.

From the sound of it, he believes he has to shout from Italy to Washington. Really, really loudly.

"Hello!" he shouts.

We wince. "Hello, Aro," Carlisle says in a much quieter voice.

"Hello, hello!" he screams, "Good to hear from you, old friend!"

"Yes…" Carlisle says, looking around at all of us, eyebrows raised. If this wasn't such a grave situation, it would be comical.

But all of our… existences are in danger. It's no laughing matter.

"Aro," I say, hoping to cut the crap and get this over with as soon as physically possible.

"Who's that? Is that Jasper?" he asks.

"Yup," I tell him.

"Well, why are you calling?" he asks. "Not that I'm not happy to talk to you all…"

"We want to know what your terms are, so to speak," says Carlisle.

"About Bella," I say.

"Hmm… well, she _was_ supposed to become a vampire. But Ali and Eddy here have told me that you all have no plans to change her, not since they left."

"Bitches!" Rosalie hisses.

Esme shushes her.

"So, I think we have to kill her. After all, humans aren't supposed to know about us. If they do, they're not supposed to _stay_ human."

"What if we changed her?" I ask. Carlisle glares at me, being morally against it, but I shrug at him.

"Then everything changes," Aro says. "In fact, a little physic tells me it will all work out well. As long as you change her within the month."

"You'll leave us alone?" I ask.

"We'll go our separate ways in peace," he says, which I take as fancy speech for "_we'll stay the hell away from you all."_

Carlisle hangs up the phone and turns to me, looking as mad as Carlisle ever gets.

"This complicates things," he says.

I shrug. "She wanted this before. She might not want it now, but at least we have a month to come up with a plan."

Carlisle sighs, and runs his hand through his hair, a habit I'm not sure who started; me, him, or the man-whore.

"Ask her," he says, sounding tired, for a vampire.

Rosalie grabs my arm as I go to head downstairs.

"I'm coming, too," she says.

Bella is lying on the couch, with a "kill me now- I'm so bored" expression.

Rosalie smacks Emmett in the back of the head. "Beat it," she commands. He flees.

"Bella," I say, and I realize that Rose was right- I sound absolutely ridiculous. She'll mock me again later. She's practically oozing satisfaction and smugness.

She looks up at the two of us. Faster than she can blink, we're sitting next to her. She blinks, confused, and then turns her head to look at us.

She tilts her head to the side, asking _what_?

"Aro Volturi has two new members of his guard," I inform her.

"Man-whore," Rosalie supplies, "Pixie slut."

Her eyes widen, and she pulls her paper over. _Their diet?_

I grimace. "Human."

She frowns, and then grimaces. It hurts.

Rosalie takes over the narration for a minute. "Aro called earlier. He wants you dead."

_Tell him to get in line,_ she scribbles.

"He wants all of us dead, too," she continues after cracking a small smile at what Bella wrote.

She flinches.

"We cut him a deal," I tell her.

_What is it?_

"He wants us to change you. Within a month," I say tonelessly, realizing for the first time how _bad_ this is.

She just sits there. No emotion, at all.

"You don't have to," I tell her. "We could think of something." I can run her somewhere, far away, hide her. I'll stay with her forever, kill anyone before they can kill her…

And let my family be killed. Yeah, right.

I'll think of something.

I usually do.

I look back at her, and she's shrugging. _Why not?_ She scribbles.

Rose looks at her. "Bella, think about this. You'd be giving up a lot."

_No, I'd be gaining a lot, _She scribbles,_ I said it before and I'll say it again. You all are my family._

Awww. Cute. She means it, too. I can feel it.

"Charlie? Renee?" Rosalie asks Bella sharply.

_Renee is happy with Phil. I think… I think Charlie loves Sue. They'll be fine. I'm eighteen, anyways. I would've been leaving soon._

"You don't want to give it all up, Bella," Rose warns her.

_If I don't? I die. You die. Everyone dies. If I do? Everyone lives._

"Bella, don't do this just for us," I tell her, "There's another way. There has to be."

_Someone just frigging bite me before our month is up!_ She writes.

Something tells me that an emotionally disturbed vampire will be worse than an emotionally disturbed teenager.

Rose cocks her head to the side and shrugs at me.

"Sure, Bella," I tell her.


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, pretty much everything from here on out is going to be in Jasper's POV. That's because 1.) he's hot, 2.) he's more fun to write, and 3.) he's more interesting right now.

And, I know, shortest chapter ever. I get it.

Bella's sleeping, and this time I had nothing to do with it.

It's my bed she's passed out on, but I don't mind. It's not like I use it. I don't sleep, and since Alice left… well, never mind.

Her _Someone frigging bite me_ has left the whole family shocked. Secretly, we're all doing a little happy dance. We all want Bella to be a member of this family.

We're _saying_ we're disturbed, of course. She shouldn't have to do this, we say.

But even I have admitted it's the only choice we have.

She sighs deeply, exhaling her sweet breath across my face.

My muscles tighten, and venom pools into my mouth.

I hold my breath.

She does it again. Damn. Even while sleeping, this girl has a death wish.

I jump towards her, the scent becoming overwhelming in the closed room. My teeth are less than an inch from her throat when I get a hold on myself.

_Get out, you dumbass,_ I chide myself.

I fling the door open, and burst into the hall, closing the door behind me.

I lean against the wall, breathing heavily.

I almost killed Bella. I almost killed Bella Swan. Again.

Esme comes over, gently touching my shoulder, and then she pulled me into a hug.

During the long course of my existence, there have been six people who I have ever let hug me. The first was my real Mother. I don't remember much of her, but I remember being a little boy, and having her hug me. She smelt like cinnamon. The second was my older sister Jennifer. I remember hugging her at her wedding. The third was Alice. If she ever tries to hug me again, I'll kill her. The fourth is Rose. She reminds me of Jennifer, only Rose cares more. The fifth is Bella. She's never hugged me before; she doesn't have that much of a death wish.

The sixth and final person is Esme. Her hugs remind me a bit of my Mother's. Esme is the best Mom a guy could wish for. So sweet and kind, I love being around her. It's my own little happy place, emotionally.

Right now, it's exactly what I need. Reassuring and caring.

"Jasper, no one said this would be easy," she says.

"I really should stay away from her, huh?" I ask.

"No!" she says firmly. "Whatever you do, do _not_ do that. Do you remember what happened last time someone left her?"

I nod my head, remembering how horrible that had been. How horrible it is now.

"I don't want to hurt her," I tell Esme.

"Shush, Jasper, don't think of what might happen. Just don't let it happen. She'll be one of us soon, anyways. Then you won't be able to hurt her."

"I'm more worried about how hurt she is now," I say.

Esme smiles at me, and I feel her… understanding. "Well, _someone_ has to help her." She pauses for a moment. "Jasper, have you ever heard the child's rhyme, Humpty Dumpty?"

"Yes," I say, "but I don't remember it."

"_Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses, and all the king's men, couldn't put Humpty back together again. _Jasper, she doesn't need a king, or a prince, or anything like that. She needs _you_ to put her back together again."

_"Bella Swan sat on a wall. Bella Swan had a great fall. Jasper Whitlock put her back together again?" _I ask incredulously.

She shrugs. "Why do you think she thinks so fondly of that boy, Jacob?" And then she walks away.

Hesitantly, I open the door to my- Bella's- room.

The smell hits me full force, but I don't move. I don't kill her.

Perhaps Jasper Whitlock can but broken Bella Swan back together again.


	8. Chapter 8

It's Monday morning. I'm so glad that I "graduated" last spring, along with Rose and Emmett. School is intolerable.

Bella, on the other hand, is still a senior. For the first time. It amazes me, in a way, how she can be so young and so… new at all this. How it's all fresh for her.

I wish I had that luxury.

Carlisle, for some inexplicable reason, thinks it's a good idea for Bella to go to school today.

"She'll miss so much," he argues, "you all have to remember that she hasn't done this before."

Too right, Carlisle. Don't I know it.

"I'll teach her whatever she misses," I say. "She has her face wrapped up like a mummy, anyways. She's pretty useless, in school sense, right now."

Carlisle opens his mouth to argue again, but I cut him off.

"Besides, I think we should change her today."

They all look at me like I've grown a fifth head. No, wait, that's not right. They look at me… like I dragged a bloody human through the front door, all over Esme's white carpet, and then proceeded to drink said human's blood in Esme's very nice, very expensive, very old, and very rare porcelain white tea set.

It's that kind of absolute disgust and appalled look, with a bit of morbid fascination thrown in.

You ever see a fire? It flickers and dances for you. You know that you shouldn't touch it, or it'll hurt you. Yet, still, the dancing flame lulls you in, and, eventually, you touch it. And you get burned.

Bella's transformation is like that for us. The idea is morbid. Yet we're fascinated- drawn in by the flame.

I shrug. "No time like the present."

I wake Bella up with a soft shake on the shoulder.

"Humpty Dumpty, get up," I whisper.

She opens her eyes, and I feel her confusion. Whoops.

"Nice one, Jasper," Esme whispers from downstairs.

"Er… never mind that," I tell Bella hurriedly.

Rose giggles down stairs.

"Anyways," I say, 'Today is Monday."

Her eyes widen and she starts to swing herself out of bed. I stop her, gently.

"You're not going to school today," I tell her.

Her pen is in her hands in an instant. _I need to go. I'll miss too much; people will wonder where I am…_

"Let 'em wonder," I say. "Bella, you said you'd still like to be changed. Have you changed your mind?"

_No._

"Then would you have a problem with being changed today?" I ask.

_No._

Carlisle, with his usual perfect timing, walks into the room.

I gently squeeze Bella's hand. "I'll be right back… after… well, after the biting. I'll keep it form hurting," I promise her before leaving the room in a hurry.

If I know anything, it's my limits. And I will definitely kill Bella Swan if I'm in that room when Carlisle bites her.

It's torture. Three days of torture.

As soon as Carlisle bites her, I know. The pain in the house shoots to unbearable levels. Not only that, but I can smell the blood. Perhaps only her pain keeps me sane. It's like when you pinch someone to get them to snap out of it; the pain is a constant reminder.

Carlisle came downstairs, looking strained. "Go on up, Jasper," he says. "I have to go fake a car crash."

Rose punches the air in triumph. "We can finally get rid of that stupid truck!"

I groan. Bella is going to kill us. She loves that truck.

Rose follows Carlisle out the door, eager to see the truck destroyed.

"Hey, Rose!" I call after her.

"Yeah, Jasper?"

"What did you buy her?" I ask. She looks blank. "You know… as a replacement car? For the one you're about to destroy?"

"Oh, shit," she says. Then she shrugs. "She'll just have to pick it out herself."

Esme rolls her eyes. "Jasper, get upstairs. We'll discuss cars later!"

I sit by her head, holding her hand.

She writhes around a lot, and screams a good amount, so I have no idea if my powers are helping at all. I can only hope that they are.

Her grip is getting stronger with every second. If I was human, she would've shattered the bones in my hand by now.

She's going to be a strong newborn. As soon as she gets some control, I'm going to have to have her beat up Emmett. Just to humiliate him.

Rose got home and came upstairs. "Out, Jasper," she orders. Has she _always_ been this bossy?

"What? Why?" I ask, shameless pleading to stay evident in my voice.

She rolls her eyes. 'You can come back in five minutes. She's just going to want a change of clothes. Those won't fit her anymore."

I sigh, and agree to leave. On my way out the door, I stop. "Hey, Rose, how did the crash go?"

She rolls her eyes again. "That was _two days ago_. Bella is officially dead. Her funeral is next weekend."

"Wow," It's weird to hear Rose talk like that, yet see Bella lying on my bed.

"Get OUT!" she shoos me after I gawp for another minute.

It's been three whole days. Since Alice is in Italy, we have no way of knowing when exactly Bella's change will be over. Her emotions are becoming steadier, though. I have a hunch it'll be soon.

Her eyes blink open and she looks around, standing up in less than a second.

I expect her to run, I expect her to attack, I expect her to do _something_. But, no. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

She just stands there, looking around, taking everything in.

The others, alerted by Bella's lack of a heartbeat, walk in.

Emmett is towing a full length mirror behind him. I raise my eyebrows. "Rose's orders," he explains.

Bella still hasn't spoken. Is she okay?

"Bella?" I ask.

"Yes?" she replies in a high, clear voice that sounds like a tinkling bell.

Rose laughs in delight and claps her hands, looking like a child.

"Bella!" she says, and reaches out a hand to grab her arm.

Bella freezes and pulls back.

Rose retracts her hand. "Sorry," she says, unabashed. "Come see!"

And Bella follows her over to the mirror Emmett dragged in.

I walk up behind her, careful not to touch her, or else I might frighten her like Rose did.

"Beautiful," I tell her.


	9. Chapter 9

"_Beautiful," I tell her._

And I mean it, too. Bella has always been beautiful. As beautiful as any human. As beautiful as Esme. Even as beautiful as Rose. Ten times more beautiful than Alice had ever been.

But now, there's absolutely no comparison. She's _gorgeous_. This site awakens the non-existent artist in me, making me want to paint her, knowing I could never get it quite right.

She got taller, so now I'm not looking down at her so much. She must be about five-eight. Her hair got even longer, and got this really cute little wave, making it look like a mahogany waterfall cascading down her back. She always has been extremely thin, but now she has curves in all the right places. Her chest has grown enough to make my eyes bug out a bit when they trail over it. Her butt has done the same. But the best thing is her face. Her lower lip has always been fuller than the other, put now it juts out permanently in a positively deadly pout. Her nose used to be a little crooked, but it's completely straight now. The light dusting of freckles over her nose and cheeks is gone, giving way to clear, flawlessly pale skin. And her eyes. God, those eyes. I've always loved her eyes. They were brown and expressive. Now they're huge, captivating me. They're ruby red right now, but that'll probably go away within a month or so.

God, she's gorgeous. I just want to…

Rosalie pointedly pokes me in the ribs. Oops. Rose is so amused, I'm surprised I'm the only one who can feel it. I give her the death glare and turn back to Bella.

She flicks her hair over her shoulder and turns away from the mirror. A second ago, I could feel her fascination, but now all she's feeling is disinterest. I guess she doesn't find her appearance as captivating as I do.

She looks around the room, briefly glancing at all of us, confusing me with every second. _Why_ hasn't she done something stupid and newborn-like yet?

Her eyes settle on me. "I think… I think I need to hunt," she says, a tad bit unsure. I have to remember, everything is new to her.

"Yeah," I say lamely, "You do. Let's go."

And, already forgetting that she's new and young and confused, I jump out the window.

I stand on the ground for an entire minute before she finally follows me. She lands right beside me, graceful as anything.

There's applause from the room above us and we hear Emmett shouting "Yeah! Ten points Bells!"

I growl up at him and gesture for Bella to follow me. We reach the river separating the woods from the house.

"Jump," I tell her, and, instinctively, she does. I follow suit, and, when I land, I can't even see her.

"Bella," I chuckle, "Where did you go?"

"Here," she says as she runs up beside me.

"Well, you know how to run," I say, "So let's go."

She speeds away from me, faster than Edward ever could have run. I try desperately to keep up, but find myself eating her dust.

Eventually, I stop.

"Bella?" I call. "Bella, where'd you go? Come back, please."

She's at my side in less than a second. Her speed is overwhelming.

"Here?" she asks in the high voice I'm not quite used to yet.

"Here," I confirm. "Unless you'd like to go to Canada."

"Here's fine," she says. "What do I do?"

I shrug. "It's instinctive, for the most part. Listen. What do you hear?"

She scrunches up her face in an adorable attempt at the utmost concentration. She'll soon learn that it doesn't take quite that much effort.

"Three…heartbeats," she says, "And… a stream?"

I nod. "Right. Three coyotes. Go ahead," I tell her.

She takes off, instinct taking over. I sprint after her, hoping I can get there fast enough so there'll be some left over.

I'm out of luck; Bella grabbed one of them, but the other two ran off in fright, leaving me with nothing. Drat.

She finishes her meal and frowns. "I'm a mess," she says.

I laugh a bit. It's true. The shirt Rose changed her into has a giant rip down the side, and both the jeans and the shirt are stained with blood. Her hair has a bit of blood in at, and it's smeared across her cheek. "You'll get better," I promise her.

I sniff the air. "Two mountain lions, three miles north," I tell her. She's about to start running, I can see, "Just…slow down a bit, okay?" I ask her. "Otherwise I'm not going to get anything to eat."

She nods, and we take off.

I'm finishing off my mountain lion when, suddenly Bella takes off. Uhm…

I sniff the air. Shit. There's a group of campers three or four miles west of here. They're not bleeding, so it's no problem for me. But Bella…

She's already about a mile in front of me. Thankfully, being a newborn, she's going solely on instinct and not on skill. The shortest path leads over a giant mountain, which is the path she's taking. Hopefully, it'll take her long enough to get over it for me to go around and catch her at the bottom.

I do. She's running down the hill, faster than anything I've ever seen, but I run at her and wrap my arms around her.

I _know_ what it's like to kill. I will not have poor Bella feel that pain.

She struggles something fierce, wanting the sweet blood that I can never let her have.

"Christ, Bella," I huff after she hits me in the stomach again. "Do you _want_ to be a murderer?" I couldn't have said it any more harshly. She stops struggling immediately.

"I have to get away," she whispers. She breaks my hold and runs in the opposite direction, heading for somewhere in Canada. I follow her, sincerely hoping that there'll be no more humans.

She's sitting in a tree. I walk beneath it, but don't say anything. Her emotions are haywire, and I can't read them for the life of me.

I pull out my cell phone and send Emmett a text.

_Emmett. We'll be home tomorrow. Probably. Let everyone else know._

Then I climb the tree with inhuman speed.

"Damn, Bella," I say as I sit on the branch under hers.

She looks down at me. "I almost killed those people," she whispers.

"I know," I say, "How did you not?"

She's a bit surprised. "I… I don't know."

"Well, you have really good control," I tell her. "You could've broken free of me, you know. Newborns can. You're stronger than the rest of us. You could've snapped my head off and killed me and then made your way over to those campers and killed them all. Why didn't you?"

She doesn't look at me this time; rather she stares up at the night sky.

"You," she eventually says, so softly that I wouldn't have been able to hear it if I was human. "Before… before all this, back before Victoria attacked us, you told me all about what your life was like. What you had done. And I know how sad it makes you. How upset it makes you. How guilty you feel. No offense, Jasper, but I don't want to feel like you do."

I smile a bit. "None taken."

She goes back to gazing absently at the sky. Her emotions have settled, but I still cannot read them. They're very unclear, like murky water.

I sigh, and look up to see what's so interesting to her. The sky looks the same as always to me. I quickly dismiss it and move my gaze to the branch above me.

Poor Bella. Poor, tortured Bella. She's looking up at the sky with wide, dead eyes. Her face is expressionless, and now I know why she won't look at me. She's been hiding her emotions ever since Edward left her, and she can't do it anymore. She can try to hide it, but she can't succeed.

I swing onto her branch, sitting in the very edge.

"Bella," I whisper as the first drop of rain hits my face. A few more drops splash into her nose.

"Let's go somewhere else, Bella," I suggest.

"Home?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No, not home," I tell her. "You and I need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey-

Just wanted to let you all know that I really, really, really love you all right now (in the least creepy way possible.) Your reviews have been awesome and inspirational.

And for all of you who've been wondering about Bella's power, heads up! (not to spoil the plot, or anything).

And I have one question for everyone. Please respond to this in your reviews, if you feel like reviewing. Do you want Jacob to return? I can either bring him back, or leave him as a depressed wolf in Canada. Your choice.

_I shake my head. "No, not home," I tell her. "You and I need to talk."_

She looks at me and I can feel her apprehension. "About what?" she asks, trying to force her voice to remain calm and even.

"About what happened last weekend," I tell her, sending her little calming waves just to help her out. She's about to explode from freaking out.

You know, for such a small use of my power, I did _not_ expect a blow to the gut that felt like God dropped an entire fricking mountain on me to propel me across half the forest. Here I am, in the middle of Canada, lying on my back, on the dirty ground, for no reason that I can understand, considering Bella hadn't even touched me, never mind _punched_ me.

"What the _hell_ was that?" I shout to no one in particular.

You know, I probably should get off my ass. I'm starting to look really pathetic.

I jump to my feet and run back to the direction I came from.

Bella is sitting in her tree, feeling a bit… _smug_. What the hell?

"What _was_ that?" I ask her.

"That's what you get for trying to mess with my emotions," she tells me. "I think… I think that's my power."

I raise an eyebrow. "Your power is the ability to make me fly through the forest?"

She shrugs. "I've never liked it when people messed with me, Jasper. I think my power is that you _can't_ mess with me anymore."

"Great," I sigh, "Impenatratable shield. Impressive. Can you _not_ do that again? That was not good."

"I found it very good." She tosses her hair, done with the conversation. "You said something about going somewhere?"

I nod. "Our old house is just a few dozen miles away. We can go there."

She takes off at a sprint, and, when I finally arrive, she's casually leaning against a wall, looking bored as anything. I fish the spare key out of the knot in the big tree and unlock the door.

It's a beautiful house; I now wish that I'd spent more time here when the family lived here. But during that time, Alice and I had gone to France for an extended vacation. In reality, I'd spent more time being her bag holder while shopping than actually being on vacation. I regret the trip now.

Bella likes the house, too; I can feel it. Apparently her power won't attack me for reading her emotions, just for manipulating them. That's going to take some getting used to.

We walk into the main living room, and I sit on the couch, the little human gesture designed to relax Bella _without_ using my now forbidden power.

She sits beside me, but won't look at me. I can sense her discomfort. I can also sense her pain, which is the reason for our discussion here today.

"Bella," I say. "Do you want to talk to me? About what happened?"

"No," she snaps.

I sigh. "C'mon, Bella. You're in pain, and you're sad, and you want to cry. Don't you? C'mon, Bella, tell me the truth. I can feel it."

She sighs. "Yes," she whispers. "It does hurt. I do want to cry. But I don't."

"You can cry, Bella," I tell her. Well, no, she actually can't. It's impossible. But you get the point.

And, just like that, she does. She starts dry-sobbing into my shirt.

I wrap my arm around her and pat her back in a manner that I hope is comforting.

It's about time that she cried.

I just hold her. I don't know how long. All I know is that, when she pulls away and wipes away the non-existent tears, the sun is high in the sky.

We're both feeling relieved. I, at finally being able to do some good for Bella. She, at finally grieving.

She gives me a wobbly smile. I grin back.

"Feel better?" I ask.

"No," she says, "I feel like shit."

I laugh a bit at that one. "I know," I tell her.

She growls. It's more attractive than menacing, though. "Watch it," she warns, "I don't want to explain to Esme why you broke her walls by crashing through them."

"How _I_ broke them?" I ask, shocked. "But _you'd_ be the person sending me through them! Anyways, do you have _any_ control over that amazing power of yours?"

She shrugs. "Want to test?"

I clear my throat. "Uh… No, not really. I've had enough for one day."

She gives me the devil's grin; something I've never seen on Bella before but decide I like immensely.

We sit in silence for a while longer. At some point, Bella rests her head against my shoulder. I like it. It feels natural. It feels… right.

"Thank you, Jazz," she whispers eventually. It's the first time she's ever called me that. It sounds beautiful from her lips.

"For what?" I ask softly.

She sighs lightly, her breath ticking my skin. "For being there for me. For trying to help me. For helping me. No one helped me last time he left. Thank you."

As much as I love listening to this, I feel the need to remind her. "What about that dog?"

She sighs again, but it's not sweet this time. It's sharp and a bit angry. "_Jacob_ helped. A little. He was my personal sun, my everything for a little while. But he wanted something, something he knew I couldn't give him. And he deserted me as soon as he realized that."

"I'm not leaving you," I promise her.

"I know," she says, "you're such a good person, Jasper. No matter what you believe about yourself, I'll always know that you're a good person. You tried so hard to help me for nothing in return. No monster would ever do that."

Alice never said such nice things to me. She never told me that I am a good person, somewhere inside. She'd just accepted that I am a monster, a horrible creature. Bella, however, tells me there's goodness somewhere. She gives me hope.

But she's wrong. I didn't try so hard to help her for nothing in return.

I want her to love me like I love her.


	11. Chapter 11

Be warned. Sappiness alert.

_But she's wrong. I didn't try so hard to help her for nothing in return._

_I want her to love me like I love her._

I wrap my arm around her, but don't say anything. She turns her face into my neck, but we don't say anything. We sit in comfortable silence.

Her shitty feeling from earlier are slowly subsiding, turning to a more tranquil and peaceful feeling. I let myself feel what she's feeling, minus the remnants of shittyness. Some people take a warm bath to relax. Bella's emotions do the trick for me.

The sun has already begun to set again, and I know we've been gone longer than I said we would be. The others won't worry, though. We're _vampires_, for Christ's sakes. What could happen to us? Esme might get all motherly and concerned, though. I should call her later.

Vampires are perfectly capable of sitting still and silent like this for hours on end, but it doesn't mean we like to do so. It's _killing_ me, sitting here. But Bella's peace and happiness is more than enough to offset the boredom.

"Bella," I whisper softly, which breaks the silence as the first noise in hours. "Do you want to go home?"

"No," she says.

So I text Emmett again, telling him we'll be gone for a little while longer.

**Why? You getting some?**

Emmett. Sometimes, I really hate my brother.

Bella looks over and reads it and proceeds to roll her eyes.

"Sorry," I apologize. "You'll get used to him- eventually."

She shrugs her shoulders. "I've got forever, right?"

"Yeah," I say, "I guess you do."

Suddenly, I feel a really, really sharp pang of love mixed with lust coming from her. I try to pretend that I don't feel it; she probably doesn't mean it, and I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

"I know you felt that, Jasper," she says, not looking at me.

"Yeah, I did," I say, confused. Of course I felt it. Does she want me to feel it?

She hits me with another one, just like the first.

She's gong to kill me, if she keeps this up.

Bella turns her head a bit, so she's facing me, but she's still not looking at me.

"I told you that you are a good person, Jazz, for helping me and wanting nothing in return. Well, it's true; you've been nothing but perfect. I want something else, though," she lets out a bit of a strangled laugh, and, simultaneously, lets out more of the love and lust. "You've given me so much, and here I am, asking for more."

"What do you want? You can ask for anything. I'll give you whatever you want, darlin'," I tell her. The lust soars, and I realize it's from the little bit of my accent she just heard.

She smiles for just a second. "It's not something you can buy for me, that I want, Jasper. It's not that easy to get for me."

"I'll give you _anything_, sweetheart," I tell her. "Just tell me what."

She swears under her breath. "Jesus, Jasper, you know what I want!"

I nod.

"You're gong to make me say it, aren't you?" she asks, slightly exasperated.

I nod again. I want to hear it. I want to hear her say it, more than anything I've ever wanted before.

I can tell that she doesn't particularly want to say it. This girl has serious self-esteem issues. I can feel _that_, too. It's one more thing to blame that bastard, Edward, for. I know that she's always had these problems, since long before we came into her life, but Edward cheating on her only amplified them.

"Bella, honey, you don't need to be afraid," I gently tell her. "_Anything_. You can tell me _anything_, ask my _anything_."

She doesn't ask. She shows me, sending the same lust and love as before.

"Bella," I know I'm begging, now. I want her to say it. I want her to say it so it becomes undeniably true. "Bella, please, say it."

She turns away again. She's hiding her face from me. If she was still human, she'd be blushing.

"Jazz," she says softly. "I… I… I really like you," she hesitates again, and turns her head into my shoulder, hiding her face again. "I love you," I hear her say. Finally.

I reach over and lift her face out of my shoulder, gripping her chin in my fingers. I maneuver it until I'm looking directly into her eyes.

Then I let her feel exactly what she's been sending at me for the past few minutes only, this time, it's my own emotions.

I've forgotten about her power.

I fly backwards and break through Esme's walls, landing in the forest.

"_Damn,"_ I say as I spring to my feet and rush back to the house.

Bella's still sitting there, staring through the hole in the wall.

I walk back into the house, and sit beside her again.

"Well, that went well," I mumble.

_Just tell her, Jasper, you idiot._

"Bella, darlin'," I say, feeling the lust again. "I _told_ you that you could ask me for anything. I meant it. I love you too, sweetheart."

She hesitantly smiles at me.

"Silly Bella," I say, "Of _course_ I love you. Everyone loves you. It's impossible not to. I'm just the lucky guy who you decided to love too."

She hits me with another wave of pure love and lust. I groan. "Bella, you are driving me _crazy_."

She grins. "I know."

This isn't the same Bella who was dating Edward. This isn't the same shy, blushing beauty. This is a new Bella- _my Bella_. The words sound so beautiful. Even though, of course, she'll never be technically _mine_, for who am I to say I own such a marvelous person?

And, as she sends me another wave, I lean down and kiss her, hard.

It's better than any kiss Alice ever gave me.

Bella is better than Alice in every way.


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, we're going to do something new.

This introduction is from Edward's point of view, and then we'll go back to normal and go back to Jasper's perspective because he's hotter than Edward (duh).

You all love me. That's because I put my other project on the back burner, in order to get this chapter out to you all on time. You're welcome! 

**Edward "The ugly, cheating, man-whore's" POV**

Alice and I are lying in our bed in The Volturi castle after a truly fantastic night… and day… and night again… of love-making. Both of us are breathing heavily, trying to replace all the unnecessary air we lost.

I look over at my Alice, and see the blankness of her ruby-red eyes. She's just so _adorable_ when she gets a vision. She's always adorable, honestly. She's better looking than Bella by far.

Suddenly, my lovely Alice is flung into the stone wall by an invisible force, leaving an Alice-shaped dent where she lands.

She sits there for a minute, dumbfounded. She's so cute when she's confused.

I sit up just as Alice gets up.

She stomps her foot in anger. "What… the… hell?" she seethes.

_Why can't I _see_? _She thinks.

"What can't you see, babe?" I ask her.

_Shut up, Edward, _she thinks, _let me figure this out._

I wait patiently while Ali scans the future again.

And she is promptly thrown into the wall again, making another dent.

She jumps right up.

"Ali," I ask, "What's happening?"

She stomps her little foot. "I can't _see_, Edward! I'm blind! I was looking for Bella, trying to see if they changed her yet. And I can't see _anything!_ Every time I try, I get thrown into the damn wall!"

We stare at each other, uncomprehending. We have no idea what this is, or what it means, but we know that it doesn't bode well.

**Jasper "The very hot, faithful, sweet guy's" POV**

Bella and I slow down to a more normal pace as we reach the river by the big house. We smile at each other, and she reaches over to grab my hand. I squeeze it.

She rubs circles absently in my skin, her fingers gracing a few of my scars.

We walk up to the door, and, before we can so much as raise a hand to open it, it swings open to reveal a very pissed looking Carlisle.

But he puts on a smile when he sees us. "Welcome home, you two," he says, smiling like a man who just found buried treasure.

"Hi, Carlisle," Bella says, flashing him the smile that looks like the sun.

He's taken aback; he hasn't seen the sunshine smile on Bella in so long.

He then notes our hands. "Congratulations, you two," he says.

"Thanks," I tell him.

Bella stands on her toes and kisses my cheek. "I'm going to go find Rose," she says.

"Alright, Darlin'," I say, and she giggles before walking off.

She gracefully prances up the stairs, a feat that human Bella would've never been able to accomplish.

As soon as she's gone, I turn to Carlisle.

He has his eyebrows raised, and he's looking at me. "What… did you _do_ to her?" he asks.

I shrug. "Never underestimate a good empath. Or a guy in love with a girl." I change the topic. "So, what has you so pissed?"

He sighs, frustrated. "Your ex-wife called earlier." I let out a list of choice expletives. "They're coming for a visit."

I hiss. "Like hell they are."

He shrugs. "Officially, Aro is sending them. Alice said something about not being able to see what's going on here… and something about being thrown into walls. She's coming to check it out."

I grin. "That would be Bella's power," I tell him. "She's a shield, and, if you upset her shield, she'll send you flying. It's already happened to me. Twice. I… kind of…uh… destroyed Esme's wall."

"You did _What_?" Esme shrieks from upstairs.

"Oops," I say.

Bella and I are just lying on the bed, reading. I'm reading a new mystery (contrary to popular belief, I _do_ read other things beside Civil War books). Bella is reading at her new, lightning vampire pace. She's flipping through her favorite- Wuthering Heights. Her head rests against my chest, her sweet breath intoxicating the air around us both.

Then I hear the doorbell. Who the _hell _is ringing our doorbell? People don't exactly flock to visit the Cullen house.

I hear Rose answer the door and let out a stream of curses, the most prominent being "man-whore," and "pixie slut."

Oh. I guess I know who our guests are.

Damn. I was hoping that we had a few more days.

Bella, having been previously informed of our guest's arrival, swears and gracefully leaves my lap and stands up.

"Better to face it now," she says as I follow her downstairs.

I grunt, showing my agreement but also my reluctance to agree. Actually, in my honest opinion, it would be better to _never_ deal with this.

Bella is in a bit of emotional turmoil right now. She wants this to be over, but she's not exactly happy about it either.

She walks down the stairs, making a grand entrance. For the first time, Edward and Alice saw her as a vampire.

Edward's jaw drops and Alice looks shocked.

Bella, for her part, is irritable. "There. You saw. I'm a vampire. Go tell your master that everything is okay," she says.

Suddenly, Edward and Alice both fly backwards. Thankfully, the door is still open behind them, so they do no damage. They lie on top of each other in a heap.

I can't help but snicker, and Rose cracks a smile. Emmett is howling on the floor laughing.

Esme looks torn between motherly love and laughter, but even _Carlisle_ is smirking.

"Alice, Edward," he says, "I would like to introduce you to Bella's power."

Bella took a graceful leap down the last six steps, landing elegantly by the door. She leans against the frame, looking extremely casual but also damn sexy.

"I… I can't see her," Alice says, confused.

"I can't hear her, either," Edward says. "I thought I'd be able to, now that she's a vampire," he mutters.

"It's a shield," Bella says calmly. "It's a shield that will kick your ass the second you mess with mine. You can tell your master that. Now, leave before I come and personally kick your asses."

Alice ran over to Bella, getting right in her face… well, her, er, chest, because that's as high as Alice can go.

"This is our family too," she snarls.

Rosalie, Emmett and I come to flank Bella. We all hiss, but Rose is the loudest.

Edward comes up by his girlfriend. "We've been your brother and sister far longer than she has. You side with her?"

Rosalie glares. "You're not my siblings."

Bella rolls her eyes. "Just leave, you two. Go back to your master. If you kill anyone on your way through town, I will personally rip you apart and burn you slowly."

Bella is menacing when she wants to be.

They ran.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors Note: Who-hoo! Look at the review count- that's a big number, folks. Thanks!

**Bella's Point of View: (I know, I know, it's been forever since I let her talk.)**

All the boys left to go hunting after Alice and Edward fled the premises. Jasper and I followed them all the way to Olympia; we wanted to ensure that they didn't hunt on Forks, or any of the surrounding towns.

When we get back to the house, Emmett and Carlisle immediately grab Jasper and start tugging him away, Emmett saying something about needing some "man-time." Jasper kisses me good-bye, and follows the other two off into the woods.

So I head back up to the room Jasper and I share; that is until we move, which should be soon. I figure that I can finish my book (again) while I wait for Jazz to get back.

My illusions of having a somewhat peaceful afternoon are shattered as soon as I walk into my room. Esme and Rose are sitting on my bed, smirking unholy grins.

"So…" Esme says, no longer reminding me of a Mother, but rather a gossipy best friend.

"Have anything you'd like to tell us, Bella?" Rose asks, smirking still.

I tilt my head, pretending to be confused. "Uhm… you're going to have to be a bit more specific, I'm afraid."

Rose squeals. No, I'm not kidding. She actually _squeals_. "You and Jasper are so together! Now, spill!"

I sigh. No matter how old they get, they clearly haven't matured much.

"Yes, Jasper and I are dating," I grudgingly tell them. In reality, I'm just stating the obvious. I've moved into _his_ room. I'm always holding _his_ hand. I'm not exactly shy about kissing him, either.

"No shit," Rose snorts.

"We knew you two were perfect for each other," Esme sighs. She's a true romantic at heart. I might have been, once. Before my world was ripped to pieces by Edward. It might've been repaired- no, better than repaired; completely rebuilt- by Jasper, but I don't hold romantic visions anymore.

Rose is bouncing up and down like an impatient child on my bed. "Bella, Bella," she says. "Tell us. Tell us everything."

I sigh and sit down, more gracefully than I ever could have as a human.

"Well, yeah, Jasper and I are together. And that's… it," I say.

"Bull," Rose says. "_Everything_, Bella. How'd it happen?"

"We were hunting," I begin to say. "And I… I smelt some campers. I took off, unable to control myself. Jazz took a shortcut, and caught me, and stopped me. He reminded me that I'd be a murderer if I continued. That stopped me cold. I didn't… I _don't_ want to kill anyone. So I stopped breathing, and ran away. Jazz followed me, but I'm still faster. I go and sit in this tree," I say, giving them the play-by-play of every detail of that day. "We talk for a bit, and he says we should go to your old house tog et out of the rain. After, he tries to manipulate my emotions, and he gets blasted halfway across the forest by my power. That was the first time we learned about it. Anyways, we ran to the house.

"He asks if I want to talk about what happened that day," neither of them need an explanation as to which day I am referring to. "I tell him no, but he keeps at it and wears me down. So we talk. I cry a bit, and he's so good and comforts me and lets me cry. And, as soon as I stopped crying, I just _knew_ that I loved him. Make any sense?"

Esme and Rose smile. "Of course it does," Esme says.

Rose shakes her head. "Damn, Bella, you have a thing for Cullen men?"

I laugh a bit; even know the subject of Edward still hurts a bit. It will probably always hurt, but it's going to get better; Jazz will make sure of that.

"Don't worry, Rose, Esme," I tell them, "I think your guys are safe."

They laugh. Suddenly, Rose claps her hands together and starts bouncing up and down again. Is it just me, or is she taking on some Alice-like traits, back when Alice was nice and sweet and not a slutty bitch that hurt her wonderful, perfect husband? Hm. It must be a rule in the Cullen household that someone must always be overly-perky.

"I know!" she says.

"You know what?" Esme asks, and, for some inexplicable reason, I begin to feel fear bubbling in my stomach.

"We should send Bella and Jasper out on a date tonight. After all, they haven't even gotten to go out yet," She says, giddy and excited.

Esme smiles. "I'll call the boys, tell them to bring Jazz home sometime tonight. In the meantime, you can get Bella ready.

"Hey!" I protest. "Don't _I_ get a say in any of this?"

They both look at me lime I'm insane.

"No," the say simultaneously.

Rose chuckles. "Welcome to the Cullen family, Bella. Here, there's never any privacy and your personal life is public property."

**Jazz' Point Of View **

Carlisle's cell phone starts ringing. What the hell? No one interrupts us during what Emmett deems as "man-time."

It's Esme.

"Uh-huh, sure, yup. I'll tell him," he says quietly into the mouth piece. "Yeah, nine o'clock. Got it," he says hanging up.

"The girls are planning a special evening," Carlisle informs us.

Emmett punches the air and gets the "Yes! I'm going to get laid!" look in his eyes.

Carlisle rolls his eyes at him. "Not for_ you_. For Bella and Jasper."

"Damn," Emmett mumbles.

I'm now paying strict attention to Carlisle. "A 'special evening?' What does _that_ mean?"

He shrugs. "They just said be home at nine, tonight, and not a minute later."

At nine o'clock, me, Carlisle, and Emmett dutifully traipse through the front door.

Bella and Rose are nowhere to be seen; I can hear them upstairs somewhere.

Esme is lounging on the couch. "Hello, boys," she says.

Carlisle gives her a quick kiss. 'Since when do you participate in these schemes?" he asks.

She shrugs. Then she turns to me. "Jasper, take her somewhere tonight. I don't care where. Just take her out, and make sure she has a good time."

I nod, grateful that they hadn't made plans for our night. I have some ideas of my own, and I'm quite sure that they're nothing Esme, loving, motherly Esme, would come up with.

A good time. You can be damn sure I'll make give her that.


	14. Chapter 14

_A good time. You can be damn sure I'll give her that._

So, I'm standing in the living room, waiting for Rose to finally surrender Bella to me. I've already showered, changed, wrestled with Emmett, changed again after he tore my shirt, beat Emmett and Guitar Hero, and then lost horribly to Esme at Guitar Hero. I know it doesn't seem like it, but Esme kicks ass at Guitar Hero.

How long can this take? What the hell is she doing to Bella, anyways?

I silently go upstairs to see what's taking so long. They're in Rose and Emmett's room. I knock on the door, and it opens. But instead of a person, or a face, coming out, it's a shoe. I don't dodge quickly enough, so I get hit in the head with a bright red high heel shoe that is ridiculously pointy.

"Go away, Jasper!" Rose shouts at me.

"Give me back my girlfriend!" I shout through the door that Rosalie unceremoniously slammed in my face.

"Emmett!" she screams. "Get him away from here!"

So Emmett comes upstairs and tries to drag me away. I dig my heels in and refuse to move.

Then I hear Bella's sigh from the other side of the door. "Jazz, do as she says," she says sullenly. "The sooner you let her get back to work, the sooner she'll be done."

I sigh and let Emmett lead me downstairs.

Carlisle is sitting on the couch, smirking at me. "No luck?" he asks, though of course he heard every word that was said.

I growl. "What the _hell_ are they doing?" I seethe.

"We're coming, we're coming!" Rose shouts. "Jeez, keep your pants on," she mumbles.

Rose walks down the stairs, with Bella right behind her.

Oh, God. Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God.

Now I see why Rose took so long.

Bella has always been beautiful, more beautiful than anything I've ever seen before.

Rose has ensured that my eyes will never trail away from her for the rest of the night. She's ensured it will feel like a guilty pleasure to look at her. She's ensured that it will feel like heaven just to look at Bella.

Bella is wearing a deep blue shirt that's cut low and barely brushes the waist line of her pants. She's wearing jeans, but they're tight, framing her gorgeous ass.

Bella smiles shyly at me. I grin back.

Emmett teasingly whistles. I shoot him a death glare and grab Bella's hand and lead her out the door, towards the garage.

She giggles, which is a sound I've never heard from Bella before. "Where we going, Jazz?" she asks as I open the passenger door of Carlisle's Mercedes, which I am borrowing for the night.

I answer her question as I slide into the driver's seat. "No idea," I tell her.

It's only partially a lie.

Since we're driving at about two hundred miles an hour, we're out of Washington really quickly. I want to avoid places where Bella might be recognized, since she's supposed to me dead.

Eventually, I stop the car in Carson City. I have no particular reason for choosing here; I just think it's a nice place.

Let's see, what to people usually do on dates? Dinner is out, for obvious reasons.

"You want to see a movie?" I ask Bella. "I here there's a really bad vampire movie out."

"Sure," she smiles. "Let's go."

So I drive to the theater.

We bypass the concession stand and buy tickets.

The movie is truly awful, and Bella can't stop laughing throughout the entire thing. At one point, the couple in front of us turns around to shush us, but I send them immediate waves of calm, and they turn back around to finish the movie.

At one point, Bella leans her head against my shoulder and I wrap my arm around her. I see a young couple, probably only fifteen years old, doing the same thing a few rows in front of us.

Is this how it feels to be human? I wonder. This happiness, this love, this joy?

Finally, the horrid movie is over, so Bella and I leave the theater.

She's still leaning against me as we walk. "Where to?" she asks.

I feel a sharp pang of lust from some boys standing under the overhang over the door. I turn around and glare at them, and give them a quick flash of my sharp, frightening teeth for good measure.

I kiss her head. "Away from here."

I drive back to the hotel I saw earlier. I'm nervous, and I can feel that she is too. She knows what I want; she knows what I'm asking for. I'm not getting a hotel room to _sleep_ in, after all.

So we walk into the lobby, and I head over to the check-in desk, Bella at my side.

There's only one guy there, and he has the misfortune- and blessing- of having to help us.

He's staring at Bella, and her shirt, and she knows it. She's giving him a cold look designed to put him right off, but it has no effect on him. "Can I help you?" he asks, looking only at her as he licks his lips.

She looks up at me, for it is _my_ plans that have brought us here. Plus, I'm the one with the money right now.

"Yes," I say, bringing the man's attention briefly to my face, before he turns back to Bella. "We need a room for tonight."

He's zoned out, completely lost in staring at my Bella, who ahs begun to shift uncomfortably.

"I'm… just going to go sit over there," she says to me.

"You do that, honey," I tell her as she walks off.

"_Damn,_" the guy mumbles to himself, clearly thinking I can't hear him.

"I know," I say, showing him that I can. "She's amazing. Now, can I please have a room for the night?"

Once the dumbass guy finally stops staring at Bella's retreating form long enough to give me what I've asked for, I walk over to Bella and we head towards the elevator.

I take the opportunity to kiss her. It's not gently nor is it sweet, but rather it's… demanding, I suppose. I want her tonight. I want her bad, and I just hope that she'll give it to me.

The elevator dings and, without breaking us apart, I begin to walk Bella backwards to our room. I reach the door and slide the key in.

It swings open, and I gently guide Bella inside.

She pulls back, but just a bit. She's feeling exactly what I am; love, lust, anticipation, desire, want, need, and nervousness.

"Jazz," she says softly, "I've never…"

I kiss her quickly before pulling back to look at her. "I know," I tell her. I wish I can say the same. Alice, Maria, all of the others… she has so much to give me that I can't return. I wish I could.

"It's okay," I tell her softly, because her nerves have spiked.

And it is.

And, as promised, I showed Bella a good time.


	15. Chapter 15

Author's note: This is the final chapter of Explosion. Now, before you freak out on me, you _do_ have a say in this. In your reviews, tell me if you want more. If you do, I'll seriously consider continuing it someday. But, as of now, this is the end. Don't worry; I'm not abruptly cutting off the story. It will be complete, and resolved by the time this chapter is over.

Now, here are the rules. If you want me to continue it someday, review! But your review needs to say what you want to see happen. Don't just say, "I really, really, really want more!" Say something more along the lines of "I really want you to right more because I want to see events x, y, and z take place." This isn't one of those "if I get x number of reviews, I'll continue." This is the _end_, in my mind. If you have a desire for more, let me know.

Thanks for reading, thanks for your support, and I still love you guys!

Oh, and go Team Jasper!

Bella and I spend the whole day in that hotel room, making love for a large chunk of that time. I love that girl, I really do.

When the sun sets again, we get up and get dressed. We both thank whatever higher power that is looking out for us that our clothes are still intact, if somewhat wrinkled.

We pay and check out, and then get into Carlisle's Mercedes and head home. I wonder if he needed his car today. Whoops.

We drive in relative, comfortable silence, with our hands clutched together. We make it home in decent time.

I pull the Mercedes into the garage. Bella flashes me a beautiful grin that makes my knees quake a bit. "Rose is going to absolutely interrogate us," she says, "And Emmett's never going to let up on the teasing."

I shrug, willing to pay the price for last night and today.

We walk inside, still hand in hand, to find the family pouring over maps in the front room.

"Scotland could be nice," Esme wheedles.

"But Alaska has _bears_," Emmett complains.

"I say Alaska," I butt in. "It _does_ have the best hunting options."

Carlisle sighs. "Alaska it is, then."

Bella is feeling confused.

"When, Carlisle?" I ask.

"The day after tomorrow," he says, "I have to sort out some things at the hospital."

I nod. "C'mon, Bella, let's take a walk," I say. "We'll be back later," I tell the others. Esme nods.

We jump the river, landing in the woods.

We walk quietly through the forest.

"Bella," I say, breaking the silence, "We're moving to Alaska the day after tomorrow."

It all makes sense to her now. I can feel the overwhelming sadness.

"What?" I ask her, gently tilting her chin up so she's looking in my eyes.

"Charlie," she whispers.

"Oh," I say, mentally smacking myself for not realizing it sooner.

"I wish I said goodbye," she tells me. "I just… went to the Mansion and never came home."

"Would you like to say goodbye?" I ask her.

And, without waiting for an answer, I pull her onto my back and run her to her old home.

I skid to a stop, and jump up to Charlie's window. I know this house like clockwork. How many nights had Edward had us patrolling outside?

I gently pry open the window, and silently swing inside, Bella still on my back. Don't think I don't notice her legs wrapped around me like that. I do. Oh, you can bet your ass I do.

She slides off.

"Go tell him," I say, "I'm going to stand in the hall."

"I can't!" she hisses. "I can't scare him; I'm _dead_!"

"People see the dead in their sleep all the time, Isabella," I remind her. "He'll think it was just a dream. But you should tell him goodbye, either way." With that, I unobtrusively walk out into the hallway.

**Bella's POV (Briefly, for a heart-wrenching moment)**

I lean over and gently shake Charlie awake. The smell is intoxicating and I want to eat him so bad. But I refrain, thinking of Jasper, once again. He killed people he didn't even know, and look how it has hurt him. How would I feel if I killed Charlie?

"Charlie," I whisper as his eyes blink open.

"Bells?" he mumbles.

I smile a little. It's so _good_ to hear his voice. "Yeah, Dad, it's me."

"I thought…" he says, trailing off, his eyes watering.

"I thought you were dead," he says quietly.

"I am, Dad," I say softly.

"I miss you, Bella," he says.

My throat tightens, and not from thirst. "I miss you, too, Dad."

He's crying a bit now. "What am I going to do without you, Bells?"

I smile a bit. "God, don't try to cook," I say, and I even manage to get him to smile a little bit. "Dad, go talk to Sue. She'll make you happy," I tell him.

He smiles at me.

"Can you stay?" he asks.

I shake my head. "No, Dad. I'm sorry."

"Will you come back?"

"I… I don't know," I say. "Maybe someday."

He looks sad again. "I'm sure going to miss you, kid."

"Me too, Dad. Always," I tell him.

He stands up and hugs me. I hold my breath, but hug him back.

"Bye, Bella," he whispers.

"Bye, Daddy," I say. I haven't called him Daddy since I was six, but his eyes tear up again at hearing it.

He sits back down in the bed, and he leans back and falls asleep. Just as his eyes close, the door opens and Jasper enters.

"Was that you?" I ask, gesturing to the sleeping Charlie.

He nods. He walks over and pulls me into a hug.

"Ready to leave, Darlin'?" he asks.

I take a deep breath and nod. "I'm ready."

**Jasper's POV**

"That one," Rosalie says, pointing at a very large, very glittery diamond ring.

I chuckle. "Rose, I don't know if you know this, but I'm proposing to Bella, not to you."

She sticks her tongue out at me.

It's the day after Bella and Charlie said goodbye. Emmett took Bella on a hunting trip in Canada to teach her the virtues of hunting bears. Esme is surveying the damage Bella and I did to the wall of our Canadian house, and then heading over to finish our new house in Alaska. Carlisle is finishing his last day at the hospital.

Rose and I remained very discreet in regards to our plans. Right now, we're at a jewelry store on Olympia, looking for a perfect engagement ring.

Rose has pointed out ten or so by now, but I've rejected every one of them. Too Rose-ish. Too modern. Too flashy. Too much like the one I gave Alice. Too much like the one Edward gave her.

Suddenly, I see it. Wordlessly, I tap Rose on the shoulder and point. Her eyes bug out a bit.

"That one," she says breathlessly.

I can't agree more.

We're all loading the U-Haul van, which would normally be sweaty, gross work for humans, is easy, simple work for us.

Once everything is loaded, Carlisle and Esme jump into the cab, having drawn the short straw and therefore being stuck with the old, slow truck. Emmett and Rose jump into Rose's convertible, and Emmett will run back later to get his jeep. Bella and I offer to bring up Carlisle's Mercedes, with the idea being that I'll come back for my Motorcycle another time.

Everyone pulls out of the Cullen driveway, softly whispering goodbye to our home of three years. Those three short years seem like forever ago.

As we drive north, I can't help but grin.

So much has happened in those three years.

A miracle entered our lives, going by the name of Bella Swan.

My wife cheated on me with my brother, who left poor Bella broken.

Bella and I fell in love.

And, now, I have a beautiful engagement ring in my pocket, which I hope to put on the hand of an even more beautiful, stunning, mesmerizing, enthralling girl.

I hope with all by being that she will say yes, but I will understand if she does not. It wasn't so long ago that she was human, and time and forever meant something entirely different to her. I'll understand if all this still confuses her a bit.

She loves me, and I love her. I'm willing to wait forever for her to be ready to marry me.

After all, we have eternity.

As she turns to me and smiles, I can feel it, deep inside.

The explosion of emotions. The explosion of love.


End file.
